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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-02-06 Daily Xml
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INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST SEX WORKERS

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:50): I rise today to make remarks on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Each year, 17 December is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. The event was created to call attention to crimes committed against sex workers all across the globe, but it was originally conceptualised by Annie Sprinkle and initiated by the sex workers outreach project in the USA.

It was originally a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River killer in the Seattle area of Washington. The international day has become an annual event and has spread across the globe. It empowers sex workers, and they come together and organise against discrimination and remember victims of violence. The man dubbed the 'Green River killer', Gary Ridgeway, was finally caught and eventually confessed to having murdered over 70 women, but it is possibly a greater number than that. When he was caught, he said:

I picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing. I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.

Sadly, he was correct. Sadly, some Seattle sex workers, their boyfriends, partners and pimps all knew for many years that the Green River killer was indeed Gary Ridgway but they were afraid to come forward for fear of being arrested or that the police would not believe them if they did come forward. They believed that the police did not care. Gary Ridgeway's killing spree went on for over 20 years.

During the week of 17 December, sex worker rights organisations and their allies stage actions and vigils across the world. While the Green River killer is a particularly stark example of a culture that condones violence against sex workers, it is by no means the only example. There is a widespread culture across many parts of the globe that supports this violence.

That culture prevents sex workers from reporting violence; that culture perpetuates stigma and discrimination, and that culture has made violence against sex workers acceptable. I contend that this culture is itself unacceptable, and I am pleased to say that I am not alone. Hundreds of people across the world have done dozens of memorials, actions and events of all kinds, and the participation is growing.

In Adelaide, on that hot afternoon in December last year, sex workers and their supporters carried a banner with handwritten and painted messages meant for this parliament. Those messages included these words: street workers are raped; we are violently robbed; we are stalked; we are blackmailed; we feel powerless to report crimes to police because we are sex workers; we are victims of crime who don't have a voice; we deserve to be safe just like everyone else.

They shared their personal accounts, as follows. Astrid assaulted once in 2010, two other workers assaulted by the same man; Jacky assaulted in 2009; Servilia assaulted once in 2000; Lucien assaulted at work in Adelaide in 2008; Justine assaulted two times in 2012; street worker M violently assaulted on Hanson Road 2012; Kath assaulted in 2010; armed hold-ups, seven in the last two months; offender caught last week and charged; bottles and eggs thrown at street-based sex workers forever.

On that note, I cannot help but remark on the Facebook site that was set up in South Australia in 2010 on the ANZAC Day long weekend. That Facebook site urged attacks on sex workers, as some members may be aware. It was dubbed the 'ANZAC Day long weekend hooker catch and release game', and it encouraged the 241 group members to taunt and harass street workers in the inner western suburbs of Adelaide.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): Order! The honourable member has the floor. Other conversations should be taken out of the chamber.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: The game was created and promoted by the founder of another sex worker hate site, 'Hooker spotting on Hanson Road', which had almost 1,000 members. These street workers were, in reality, also abused. They had eggs, rocks and beer bottles thrown at them. One member of the game even posted that he claimed that he had squirted chilli sauce in the face of a worker. They awarded points and dollar amounts to the acts of violence they claimed to have perpetuated.

Of course, the Facebook was, quite rightly, shut down. I do not know whether a prosecution ever followed. I do know that sex workers reported being badly bruised and hit by marbles thrown from cars, by full beer bottles and also by eggs being thrown at them. I would say that this is a demonstration of why 17 December is so important. On this day people around the world remember those who do not survive and those who will not unless we make real changes. I remind members of this council that we are here in this parliament to have the power to make those changes for those women. The response from the media was to run a poll of whether sex workers should be assaulted. I think that is the lowest of the low in the media. Of course, no-one should be assaulted.

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